CONDUCT AN INSIDE-OUT ASSESSMENT OF ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT 
Review and evaluate current enrollment related practices.  Examine what’s working and what’s not working in relation to your school’s total enrollment program.  Some of the areas that will be looked at include:

• Review enrollment related statistics and identify trends.
• Conduct three focus groups:
                Current students (upper grade classes)
                Parents (with children in various classes)
                Prospective parents
• Human resources in relation to Enrollment Management.
• Use of technology, especially in relation to Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
• Customer service practices, especially in relation to how prospect data and information is collected and responded to.
• Use of institutional financial assistance – need based as well as merit based funding is reviewed.
• Search campaigns used to attract new student inquiries, especially in looking at how geo-demographics can be applied to qualifying prospects.
• Review of communication flow with prospects, inquiries, applicants, test takers, financial assistance applicants, and deposited students.
• Review of your school’s web site with particular focus on direct marketing messaging to prospective student/parent visitors.
• Review of any previous efforts to ascertain and understand your school’s “brand”. 
• Review of current retention and completion rates as well as practices aimed at positively impacting those rates.
• Review all promotional materials with a particular focus on “brand” message that is being conveyed as well as an analysis of how the issue of affordability is being addressed.
• Review of how the voices of students, parents, faculty, and alumni are incorporated into your school’s marketing effort.     

DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING, APPRECIATION, AND SUPPORT FOR ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
On-board key constituencies within the school including administration, faculty, staff, school board, and key volunteers. Each constituency plays a particular role in managing enrollment so it is important that there be special time spent with each group.  Each group needs to understand the big and small picture of Enrollment Management and how they fit within that framework.
Time will be spent with:

• Board
• Administration
• Faculty
• Support Staff
• Student Ambassadors
• Key Parent Volunteers

CREATE AN ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT CORE TEAM
ISPD will help form and train a core enrollment team that is made up of 8 to 18 persons.  The core team is a combination of persons chosen from various constituencies within the school.  Core team members will have the essential role of monitoring and tweaking the overall Enrollment Management program. 

TAKE - TO THE NEXT LEVEL – YOUR SCHOOL’S SEAMLESS COMMUNICATION FLOW FOR ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT
During this phase of the consult ISPD will work with your staff to create and/or enhance follow-up communication with a focus on the right persuasive message delivered at the right time to the right audience.  A particular focus will be given to how your staff is using customer relationship management software (CRM) to achieve a seamless communication flow.  CRM software that is recommended by ISPD is not included in the cost of the consult.  The following relationship building communications will be focused on:

• Prospect relationship (persons identified as likely to be interested)
• Inquiry relationship
• Applicant or Test Taker relationship
• Financial assistance applicant relationship
• Enrolled/Deposited student relationship

ASSESS YOUR SCHOOL’S INTERNAL SATISFACTION AND HOW IT RELATES TO YOUR SCHOOL’S NET PROMOTER SCORE
Using the latest in business customer satisfaction research, ISPD will work with your school to deploy parent and student satisfaction updates that are aimed at ascertaining the school’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) as well as actions that can be taken during the school year to influence the school’s NPS.  Deploy first satisfaction update in the first week of November and second satisfaction update in mid-March. 

ANALYZE AND STRATEGIZE AROUND THE ISSUE OF FINANCING TUITION
The school is led through a process that examines its current need and merit based financial assistance.  ISPD assists the school in the critical area of looking at how tuition assistance can best be leveraged to enroll the right quantity, quality, and diversity of students.  Through this process, we hope to learn what financial family make-ups are you most successful in recruiting as well as better understanding those financial family make-ups that you are least successful in recruiting.  A special focus of this part of the consult involves looking at web site, print materials, and oral communication relative to financing tuition.  

• Targeted, direct mailings
• Publications – initial prospect packet, brochures, posters, flyers, etc…
• Web banner advertising
• Public relations – establishing the school news bureau mechanism within each school
• Traditional advertising mediums
• Special promotional campaigns

SUPPORT A RETENTION FOCUSED CLIMATE WHERE STRATEGIES SUPPORT THE BELIEF THAT EVERY STUDENT/FAMILY MATTERS
ISPD spends time walking the school in developing a comprehensive retention strategy.  The school will identify retention statistics and trends.  The average retention rates by grade will be rolled out to faculty and staff with a focus on identifying appropriate measures to improve those retention rates.  Schools will be encouraged to consider:

• Identifying point person(s) to lead and monitor retention.
• Front loading community building activities at the beginning of the school year in order to establish relationships among parents and students.
• Creating and implementing mini-retention campaigns aimed at stopping the ”bleeding” in those classes that are most in need.

TAKE A WIDER LOOK AT THE SCHOOL’S ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT PICTURE THROUGH STRATEGIC MEETINGS WITH A WIDER ENROLLMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL
ISPD and the core team will convene an Enrollment Advisory Council.  Names and addresses of a diverse group of people are identified and invited with the goal of having 60 to 80 persons participate.  Core team members are trained and lead the enrollment advisory council.  At the conclusion of these meetings, the core team works with ISPD to determine how to best utilize the feedback and information that was gathered in order to fine tune your school’s enrollment plan.